The smart physics program collaboration with Riverhead High School — which has students learning physics in 9th grade rather than 12th — is just the beginning of big things in store for the center, she said.

“I was a high school teacher who taught biology, so I would like to expand to do more with high school students,” she said.

Center officials are already planning to form an advisory board to bring students into the center to help work on its business aspect, rather than just the museum side.

Community outreach is another area Ms. Pelletier hopes to bolster as the center’s new director.

Read more about Ms. Pelletier’s vision for Long Island Science Center in the Dec. 20 News-Review newspaper.